


How Dark Are The Dark Sides?

by Logan_The_Gay_Nerd



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Emotional Hurt, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Happy Ending, Hurt Deceit | Janus Sanders, I'm Going to Hell, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Physical Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:55:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27537946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Logan_The_Gay_Nerd/pseuds/Logan_The_Gay_Nerd
Summary: The strong leader of the dark sides falls prey to his own puppets and is forced to be a pawn in a game he use to rule as a king. When a nerd tries the help the fallen king is forced to do things that he would never do. The nerd and the once great king are forced to face the darkness that lies right beneath the surface of the dark side of the mind. If they get out will they ever be the same? Will they still wish to help each other as they heal? What horrors still await them from the darkness that creeps behind even the most innocent eyes?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	1. Fallen King

It was cold, far too cold for Deceits liking, but he couldn't do anything about it, just like he couldn't do anything about how dark it was, nor could he do anything about the hard matters he was sitting on, nor could he do anything about the mettle cuff keeping him chained to a wall and that rubbed his wrist raw. His room wasn't always like this, it used to be bright, warm and colorful, smells of the meals he would cook filled the air constantly. The dark sides would always hang out in his room until it's influence started to get to them. Small heated tubes ran the walls to large tanks that his snakes used to go through to get to anywhere in his room. His room used to be so inviting to his 'friends'. 

But then the riot happened. 

The dark sides, led by Deceits best friends Jealousy and Dark Creativity, stormed his room, yelling at him for losing yet another battle with the light sides, as they now don't fear their Creativity. They broke everything in his room and killed his snakes before Intrusive Thoughts changed his room to the cold cellar it is now and they chained him to the wall. 

Then it got worse, so much worse. The dark sides that Deceit was once called friends, family even, the sides he always tried to help, took turns beating him to a bloody pulp. Obsession and Insanity had skinned off his scales, then Wrath and Jealousy caused so many bruises and broken bones when beating him, Lust fucked him until he was raw without lube or prep, Gluttony made him eat his snakes that he had raised since they were hatchings, Ignorance gleefully carved on Deceits skin unaware that he was causing so much pain to his friend, then Intrusive Thoughts had his turn... 

Five hours, that's how long he 'played' with Deceit. The other sides only did at most one, Lust took two, but Dark Creativity took five hours to torture the half snake. Deceit was burned by the dragon witch, his bones then all slowly crush as she stepped in them, then Intrusive Thoughts drug a knife across the deceitful sides body and gutted him like a fish before filling the room with water and drowning him. The snake was electrified, blown up, and his teeth were pulled out while his fangs were crushed making him taste his own venom. His room then filled with lava, and he was burned even worse. 

Deceit was in so much pain, his mind was gone. He was in such a state of pain that he could not register it anymore, his nerves malfunctioned, telling him he was being hit when Intrusive Thoughts wasn't even near him. That's when he was finally left alone, that's when the physical torture stopped, though the searing pain lingered for Deceit didn't even know how long. Hours? Days? He couldn't tell, but finally he was healed by Intrusive Thoughts after god knows how long, though the phantom pains of what he was put through haunted him. 

Wait... Intrusive Thoughts? Jealousy? Wrath, Obsession, Insanity, Gluttony, Lust, Ignorance? When did Deceit stop calling the dark sides by their names? When did he stop calling himself by his own name? Did he lose the right to his name? Did he honestly hate the other sides so much to not acknowledge that they earned their names? He did that to the 'light' sides, as they haven't earned their names, even if they do 'help' Thomas. But the dark sides earned their names like he did, so why doesn't he want to call them by their names? Why doesn't he want to call himself by his name? Why does he feel disgusted anytime he thinks about his fellow sides? 

Emotions were never the deceitful sides strong suit, sure he could use emotions to manipulate someone and read other sides emotions but his own emotions were complicated. He would always push them down, repress them, lock them away where he didn't have to feel them so that he could manipulate the others easier. His emotions were just a nuisance, a weakness, something that could be picked at until the others saw through his mask of lies. Deceit never learned how to deal with his emotions only how to repress them. 

But….

Now? 

Now he was just too tired to push them down. The dark sides have already seen him be so weak, they've seen through his mask and broke his carefully woven web of lies. Now there's nothing to hide, nothing to lie about, he was far too tired to care about lying, even to himself. 

The metal door, which now replaced his once wooden one, had opened, allowing the light from the hallway into his room. Deceit had to shut his eyes, as the light difference hurt, though there wasn't much change, as the dark sides actually lived in the dark. Torches and half burned out lights lit the halls and even some rooms. When he finally, slowly opened his eyes, he saw a figure in his room, standing in the doorframe. Then, when his eyes fully adjusted to the light, he realised it was Jealousy leaning on the frame, looking pissed. Deceit couldn't help but flinch away from his once former friend and back away from him, scared to be beaten again. 

He hadn't done anything wrong! Why was he going to be hurt again? 

"Hello, Deceit." Jealousy snapped as he spun the keys on his finger. His tone was harsh, colder than the room, and his voice cut the silence that had formed after Deceit had stopped whimpering from the pain. It was unwelcoming, and nothing like the caring voice the snake remembered when they were still friends. "I wouldn't be here if Thomas didn't need you. You're not completely useless at times, so you get to see the 'light' sides today. How fun." He growled lowly as he walked up to his former friend, slowly unlocking him from the wall. "Clean yourself up, and at least try to get Thomas to lie about one simple thing, for once in your life. If you fail then you'll have another punishment waiting for you." Deceit slowly nodded, too scared of saying the wrong thing to speak. 

When did he become so weak? Too scared to even talk, when his main purpose is to tell lies? When did he stop being the confident puppet master that easily controlled everyone? Why did he just want to hide in his room until Thomas died? This wasn't like him, he was better than this... but when he moved, he whimpered and he realized just how weak he was. 

Jealousy smacked Deceit so hard that he fell over, a red hand mark now glowing on the human side of the deceitful sides face. The jealous side growled lowly and kicked his former friend in his gut, a small crack echoing in Deceits head. "Answer me, snake!" 

"Yes master, I'm sorry master, please forgive me sir." Deceit said quickly as he looked up at Jealousy. 'Master'... He hated having to call his former puppets Master but after what happened last time when he slipped up and called Wrath by his name... the pain was horrible and he learned his lesson quickly. The snake didn't know why they wanted to be called master, some weird kink or something? But he never argued over what they said anymore. 

"Pathetic. You were once so strong Dee... but I guess that was another lie you told us so we would stay in line, right? Now get up. Logic will be summoning you shortly, and you better be presentable." The dark side growled before leaving the room with a huff. Deceit slowly stood up, biting his lip to conceal a whimper of pain that threatened to come out. He was still in so much pain, his last beating causing a broken nose and so many bruises. But the 'light' sides wouldn't care. They would probably just chalk it up to him lying to them again if he showed up so beaten and scared. Though they might take pity on him, which would be even worse. He didn't need the pity and empathy of traitors. So he took a deep breath, changed clothes and covered his wounds with a clever mask of his former proud self. 

He soon felt his hair being pulled at by an invisible force, and he disappeared, following the hair pulling until he arrived outside of Thomas mind to his living room. Why did they want him? They hated him around, it's not like they'll take any of his advice ... No, if Thomas doesn't lie, he'll get hurt again, Jealousy will beat him again. Thomas has to lie, for both their sakes. He looked around the room, seeing the traitor glaring at him, the moral side was waving happily. The logical side had his arms crossed with an eyebrow raised, while their creativity seemed indifferent to him being there. Thomas seemed hesitant and scared toward the snake. 

"Wow, Logan. You're so  _ graceful  _ at summoning people. You totally  _ didn't  _ pull my hair and cause me pain." Deceit spat in a cocky tone that he no longer used freely with the dark sides. 

"I know, right? Logan should stop summoning people! It hurts!" Creativity whined, making Logic roll his eyes 

"I apologize, I can normally handle these situations myself, and wouldn't normally require your assistance," The logical side huffed and fixed his tie. "But this debate requires your point of view on the matter. As you might know Thomas has scheduled and promised his friend Joan that he would go watch their play, but has also promised and scheduled to help Talyn move." The logical side said, explaining the situation. This had an easy solution: help Talyn move a bit, both of them can go watch Joans play, then they can go finish moving. But of course Thomas had to make it hard on himself, though that most likely stemmed from him having four people constantly arguing in the front of his mind on how to proceed with anything. 

Sadly, the right course of action wouldn't help the dark sides and if Deceit came back a failure again, then... Jealousy wouldn't stop hurting him until he felt better and he didn't know how long that would last. But he promised to help Thomas... 

"Hey Dee? You okay buddy? You're awfully quiet over there." Thomas said, shutting up the arguing sides that Deceit hadn't even known were yelling at each other again. 

"Of course, I'm fine Thomas, thinking is all." Deceit mumbled, getting a surprised look from Anxiety and a raised eyebrow from Logic. Deceit never seemed to think about his words or next action, they always seemed to come so easily to him, the pretty little lies slipping off his silver tongue easier than a fish could swim through water. Something was off about the snake, and it bothered Logan and Virgil. What could they be doing him in the dark side of the mind that made him have to think before lying to the group? 

"You should definitely  _ not  _ do both Thomas. Because it would be too easy to help Talyn move then take a break to go watch Joans show before going back to helping your friend move. That way, you  _ wouldn't  _ feel like a good friend, you would  _ anger  _ both parties while also satisfying your own ego and the boogie man of friendship you so strictly follow." Deceit said with a huff. Sure, Jealousy will be furious with Deceit and most likely will beat him, but Thomas is his main priority, the individual is greater than the sum of his parts, and Deceit is just a part. He most likely could have told Thomas multiple lies on how to get out of both but... he was just too tired to do it anymore. 

"That is what I suggested though more straight forward. But no one ever seems to listen to me." Logan said a little annoyed as he watched Deceit with concern. This wasn't like his frenemy, something was clearly wrong. 

"Thank you Deceit, I appreciate your input. I'll ask Talyn if they would like to go see Joan's play with me." Thomas said with a soft smile directed at his deceitful side. Deceit nodded and was hesitant to disappear. He didn't want to go back to that cell. 

"Welp if your problem of the day is done, then I shall go back to fighting the mighty dragon witch! Chim chim cheroo!" Roman said, pulling his sword out of nowhere before sinking back to the imagination. 

"I have cookies to make if you need me, kiddos. Don't be afraid to call." Patton said cheerfully before sinking down, humming the campfire song song from SpongeBob. But the other two 'light' sides stayed along with Thomas, worriedly looking at Deceit, who still hadn't disappeared yet. 

"Dee? Are you okay? You seem to not be yourself." Logan said hesitantly, getting a nod from their host and Virgil. 

"Yeah, you seem off. Is everything going alright on the dark side of the mindscape? I know that the others can be-" Virgil was interrupted by Deceit raising his hand to speak, having learned from his new 'masters' that interrupting someone or shutting them up without permission is quite punishable. 

"I'm fine V... Anxiety. You don't have to worry about me, nor the others, as you clearly don't care about any of us. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a chess game to win." Deceit said, trying to mimic his normal cocky tone, though finding that difficult with the amount of fear he was in. 

He took another minute to leave, so scared as to what was waiting for him back in his room. But he regrettably disappeared from the real world, only to reappear in the dark side of the common room. Shockingly, no one was there. It was dark and cold like it normally was, but not a side to be seen. That struck fear into Deceit far worse than any threat could, because only two things could clear the common room of all the dark sides, Thomas being sick or... one of the sides exploding in anger. And Thomas wasn't sick... 

Deceit debated on whether or not to just hide in Depressions room until he couldn't ignore the room's influence anymore, but if Jealousy caught him going there without permission, the punishment he's already going to receive will be far worse. He had no choice, he had to go to his room, he had to face the conscience of trying to help his host. If you've ever doubted the saying 'no good deed goes unpunished', just look at the cowering snake slowly making his way back to his room. All he had done was try and get the dark sides listened to, and now he's the play thing of all the dark sides. All he did was try and help Thomas be happy, and now hell was waiting for him in a cold cellar he has to call a room now. 


	2. Punishment

Deceit swallowed the fearful lump that had formed in the back of his throat. He slowly opened the heavy metal door to his room, and his heart stopped. Dark creativity was in his room, sitting on a cold stone chair, glaring at the doorway. A glint of Wraths red flashed in his green eyes. Jealousy was leaning on the back wall, the same flashing of red in his eyes that caused Deceit to shake. No, he could stand up to them. He was their puppet master, this was just a chess game and he had to remember that he was the game master, not just some pawn. 

The snake took a deep breath and stood tall, already weaving a web of lies in his head, some to the monsters he once called family, some sadly to himself. But what came with lying to the others, you have to be able to lie to yourself, you have to be able to tell yourself you're stronger than you are, tell yourself that they're weak, tell yourself that you can pull this off so that you don't stutter and trip up in your own web of carefully woven lies. These were Deceits pawns, his puppets, his playthings, he wasn't the weak link of the dark sides. He wouldn't be put through this. 

"What the hell was that?!" Jealousy snapped, balling his hands. "I told you to get Thomas to lie! What, are you so weak that-?" Jealousy slapped his hand over his mouth as Deceit silenced him. He loved his power to silence people, it made him feel stronger than he really was, it made lying to himself so much easier. 

"My main goal, and the goal of all the other sides that have earned their name and place, should be to help Thomas. That's what I did, I saw no need for him to lie in this situation. Logan can make a planner so that Thomas can work enough to have made progress in Talyn's move, while also making time for Joan." Deceit said calmly, though the look of anger on Remus' face only darkened. Using his power was his first mistake and he knew it, but he didn't wish to hear Jealousy yelling at him for an hour. His second was calling Logic by his name. But the true nail in the coffin was his implications that the dark sides intentions weren't for the welfare of Thomas.

This is why he wasn't surprised when green chains wrapped around his ankles and wrists and pulled him harshly Into the wall. He had to keep his head forward so as to not smack it against the concrete, but his efforts to keep his head safe were in vain as Intrusive Thoughts came over to him to slam his head against the wall. He felt warm blood run down the back of his neck, though that won't be the only blood shed tonight. The blow made the snake lose focus on his mask of being okay and his cuts, bruises, broken bones, and skinned off scales reappeared on him, making him whimper at just the thought of the painful experience he had already gone through at the hands of Intrusive Thoughts and the others. 

"You want to run that by me again you worthless, unneeded side?" Dark creativity growled. The snake whimpered at the growl, rethinking his whole plan. He wasn't the strong manipulative snake anymore. He was never strong, he just lied to everyone one until they believed him.

"I wanted Thomas to trust me! I thought that if I didn't make him lie that he would start trusting me more and then be open to trust the dark sides." Deceit whimpered out so scared of the pain Dark Creativity would put him through. He could face almost anyone elses torture, he was numb enough to pain to not feel the things they did. But Intrusive Thoughts? He found ways to make him hurt regardless of how numb he felt.

Dark Creativity smirked and dropped Deceit making him fall to his knees with a whimper. "Not a bad plan, Deceit." He mused and started walking out of the snakes room. Deceit thought he lied well enough. He thought he got out of the scars and the pain. "Jay, have fun with him for an hour. I didn't appreciate his attitude when he walked in. The light sides always seem to influence everyone they spend time with." Dark Creativity mused, making Deceits heart sink. 

"Gladly sir." Jealousy mused and grabbed the snake's collar before dragging him to the other side of the room. Deceit just hung his head, waiting for Jealousy to start so they could end this sooner. He did his best to zone out, escape into his head and play with the snake of lies he had in his mind. Though when he heard the snap of the whip Jealousy always used it made it hard for Dee to zone out properly. 

Deceit took a deep breath and kept his eyes closed, waiting for the sudden shooting burning pain that inevitably would begin shortly. There was a loud crack of the whip and Dee yelped as the whip hit his back, cutting through his shirt easily. 

The whip was harsh against the snake's skin, leaving his back bleeding and red. It tore his shirt leaving it in rags not suited for anyone, though the ripped shirt was far better then being completely exposed to the cold of his room. Tears rolled down Deceit's cheeks from the pain, though he emotionally felt numb. Nothing felt right anymore and the snake couldn't find the energy to care.

Jealousy eventually left deceit alone, chained back up to his wall cold and bleeding. Deceit just curled in on himself and tried to get some sleep. He wouldn't be able to get much but some is better than nothing. 

There was a quick and sudden shift in air right as deceit drifted off to sleep making him whimper and curl more in on himself. He knew Remus would keep him by keeping it too cold in his room so he did his best to stay warm. Though the sudden gasp and a mumble of 'oh god' made him look up. He froze seeing Thomas standing there looking mortified with Logan and Virgil scared and shocked. 

Logan quickly knelt by Dee and looked over his wounds, making bandages appear to help the dark side they summoned. "What happened?" He asked calmly, his voice cold and calculated. 

"I…" Deceit whimpered and pulled away from Logan. He weakly stood up using the banister to help him. He snapped his fingers to put on a mask of being okay, fixing his clothes and making his cuts on his face disappear, though he quickly regretted doing so. The blood from his back was still coming out and he just realized a cut was reopened in his shoulder. Blood dripped off him though he was determined to lie to the light sides, he didn't want their pity and he didn't want another group thinking he was weak. "Nothing of importance." He said and made his cane appear to lean on it. 

"Deceit, are you okay?" Virgil asked and movies off his steps. "You were hurt."

Deceit sighed. "Stop acting like you care about me V… Anxiety, I know you don't. But for your information I'm fine. Intrusive Thoughts wanted my help on his play." See lied though it took a moment to realize what he said. It was hard not to use Virgil's name, it was hard to keep calling him anxiety, though with Remus he had no trouble. It didn't hurt, he didn't have to pause. He didn't pause when saying Logan's name earlier to even think about it. But they haven't earned their names in the eyes of the dark sides, they don't help thomas. So why was it hard for him to say what they represent? 

"Is that all? I don't want to be here. It's too cold." Deceit lied just wanting to go back to his room, scared of the repercussions he would face if Dark Creativity found out he was missing.

"No. Actually we were worried about you Dee." Thomas said softly. "You seemed off today and when Logan and Virgil tried to summon you you didn't appear like you normally do. I had to summon you, I was beginning to worry you ducked out." He admitted, his deceitful side having never acted like this before. 

"I'm fine. I was just busy in Remus' play." Deceit sigh and put more of his weight on his staff. He felt so weak from his disguise and from the wiping that he was forced to take. But he refused to show how weak he felt. And that was quickly becoming his downfall.

"Deceit, you look like you're about to call down. Please, sir down." Logan said a bit of worry in his overall calm voice. 

"No, I'm…" The snake stopped as the world got fuzzy, the room started spinning and before he knew it he was on the floor in even more pain. He soon blacked out, blood pooling under him and onto the carpet.


End file.
